In this honest memoir, Melbourne-based chef and restaurateur Ben Shewry shares how everything – from his upbringing on a farm in New Zealand, to the 262 days his hatted restaurant Attica sat empty – shaped him into the person he is today. He tells how he has used his ‘obsession’ for good when it could have destroyed him, and that giving up was never an option; that investing in good pans and knives is not just about the cooking, it’s about the artisan who made them; and that you should definitely appreciate soil on your vegetables.